You know, men have been calling
upon the name of the Lord for a long time, haven't they? I
read that passage of Scripture in Genesis chapter 4 at the very
beginning. Then men began to call upon the
name of the Lord. And I want to be somebody who
calls upon the name of the Lord. I want that right now more than
anything else. I want to call upon the name
of the Lord, because the Scripture says, whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. So David says in Psalm
4 verse 1, hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness, hear me, I'm calling Hear me. I want the Lord to hear me. You know, if he hears you, your
prayer is answered. If he hears. Remember that sorrow
Phoenician woman where the scripture says he answered her, not a word
when she was calling upon him for mercy. I know he didn't answer
her at that time, but he heard her. He heard her. Now, I want to be somebody who
the Lord actually hears. He said, hear me when I call,
O God of my righteousness. Now, this is the only time this
phrase is found in the scripture. It's an interesting way of putting
things, isn't it, to say the least, O God of my righteousness. My righteousness. Now you listen
to me real carefully. I, Todd Nybert, every believer,
I have a personal righteousness that is called my righteousness. Mine, not somebody else's. Mine. Isaiah 54, 17 says, their righteousness,
their personal righteousness is of me, saith the Lord. It's what John called in Revelation
chapter 19 verse 8, fine linen, clean and white. This is the
righteousness of the saints. Now notice how David called the
Lord God, God of my righteousness. He's the God of my righteousness.
Now what's that mean? Well, first of all, he's the
author of it. And let's take it a step further. It's literally his righteousness. Their righteousness is of me. It's the obedience. It's the
perfect law keeping of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it is my personal
righteousness. Don't you love this way of saying
this? Oh, God of my righteousness. Now, how can that be? How can
He be the God of my righteousness? Well, just as truly as He became
sin, He became what I am on the cross. He became sin and just
as truly as He became sin and suffered the wrath of God, I
become the very righteousness of God in Him. And He is the God of my righteousness. Now he says in verse one, thou
hast enlarged me when I was in distress. And how many times
has the Lord enlarged you? Had mercy on you. Revealed himself
to you when you were in distress. He said, you've enlarged me when
I was in distress. I'm in distress now. Hear me
again. Hear me again. Oh God of my righteousness
and have mercy on me. You only ask for mercy when you
realize you're a sinner and you have no claims on God and you
can't have anything by way of merit. That's the only time you
ask for mercy. When you really believe that
you have absolutely no claims on God, that's when you say,
have mercy on me. Now that's what David's asking.
He says, hear me when I call, oh Lord. God of my righteousness,
Hear me when I call, have mercy on me. You've heard me in the
past, hear me again. Now, don't you want the Lord
to hear you? I don't want to be one of these fellows who find
satisfaction in the mechanics of prayer. Well, I've said my
prayers. It's not going to do me any good to say my prayers.
I want to be heard. I want the living God to hear
me when I call upon Him. And isn't that an amazing, awesome
thought that the God of the universe actually hears me? As insignificant
as I am, The God of the universe actually hears the prayer of
every single one of his people. Now, he's been speaking to God
and he now begins to speak to men in verse two. Oh ye sons
of men, how long will you turn my glory into shame? How long
will you love vanity and seek after leasing? You know, when
you have some awareness of who God is, You see men for what
they are, don't you? That's the only time you really
see men for what they are and who they are when you have some
awareness of who God is. Now, David turns around and he
says, after thinking of God, he says, O ye sons of men, how
long will you turn my glory into shame? Now, first of all, I can
see these as the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. And really,
with regard to every Psalm, always look first for Christ speaking,
because that's the first application of it. I remember one time I
was reading about somebody in the Psalms, he was giving a study
of the Psalms, and he said, there's 22 Messianic Psalms, where obviously
Christ is speaking. No, there's 150 Messianic Psalms. It starts in Psalm 1. Look in
Psalm 1, verse 1. Blessed is the man that walketh
not in the counsel of the ungodly. nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is
in the law of the Lord. And in his law, doth he meditate
day and night." Who's that speaking of? The Lord Jesus is that blessed
man. Now, His people are blessed in
Him too. And we're the blessed men. But
this is primarily a reference to Christ. And every psalm is
like that. All 150 psalms, they're messianic
psalms. They all speak of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And you can see in Psalm 4, the Lord saying this regarding
His detractors, how, O ye sons of men, how long will you turn
My glory into shame? How long will you love vanity
and seek after leasing and seek after lies? But these are the
words of David also. And when you see who the Lord
is, You see men for who they are, men who would turn the glory
of God into shame and who actually love vanity and seek after lies. So much for men, but he's going
on to speak to these men in verse three. He says, but no. And he's
speaking to these men who he says, how long will you turn
my glory into shame? And how long will you love vanity
and seek after leasing? But no. But know, I want you
to be aware of this, that the Lord has set apart him that is
godly for himself. The Lord will hear when I call
unto him. Now, who is this person that
is described in this Psalm as godly? But know that the Lord
has set apart him that is godly for himself. Who is this godly
person? Well, this describes every single
believer. I'm looking at some godly men
and women tonight. This is a description of every
believer. He fears God. He trusts God. He loves God as He is, as is
revealed in the scriptures. He wouldn't change Him if it
were in His power. He loves the God of the Bible. He knows God
and He's like God. Every believer bears a likeness
to the living God. Now, how can that be when you
talk about how sinful man is and everything? Well, every believer
is born of the Spirit. They're born of that holy seed.
They are given that new nature. That's what takes place in the
new birth. Being born again, not of corruptible seed but of
incorruptible by the Word of God which liveth and abideth
forever. And because of that new nature, God, the father loves the Lord
Jesus Christ. I've got something in common
with God, the father. I love the Lord Jesus Christ. There's a likeness there. God, the father entrusts the
salvation of his people to the Lord Jesus Christ. And I trust the Lord Jesus Christ
for my salvation. To God the Father, the glory
of Jesus Christ is more important than anything else. And to every
believer, the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ is more important
than anything else. You see, every believer truly
is godly in that sense. You know, I used to have a hard
time with that term just because I looked at my flesh and thought
about how I was. I thought, can I call myself
that? Well, God does. And this is a description of
every believer. By the grace of God, by His work
in me, every believer is godly. What a wonderful description
of a believer. And even saying that, I'm still
aware to some extent of how sinful I am, but I'm also aware of the
Lord's work of grace in me. And here's how I see it most
clearly. I know that God the Father loves
his son, and I do too. I adore him. I see him as altogether
lovely. Now, that is godly. Now, David
says, no. that the Lord has set apart him
that's godly for himself. Now, what's this word, set apart,
mean? What's that mean? Well, turn to Exodus 11, and
let me show you how this word is used. Exodus 11, verse 7. Well, let's begin reading
verse 6. And there shall be a great cry
throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it,
nor shall be like it any more, but..." He's talking about the
killing of the firstborn. "...but against any of the children
of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast,
that you may know how that the Lord doth put a difference."
That's the same word as set apart. How that the Lord doth put a
difference between the Egyptians and Israel. Now, how did these
people get to be godly? This is a description of every
believer. Godly. How did they get that way? Because
God set them apart for that. He's the one who caused them
to be that. It's not because they were this
in and of themselves. It's because God set them apart
for this. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
4, verse 7. And I know this is what Paul
is referring to when he makes this statement in 1 Corinthians
4. Know that God has set apart. He's made a difference. And what
a difference, before I read this passage of Scripture, what a
difference there is between a believer and an unbeliever. It's a vast
difference. One has the very divine nature,
partakers of the divine nature. What a difference. It's an infinite difference.
An infinite difference. How come I'm so different from
an unbeliever? What do I trace that to? Look
here at 1 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 7. For whom maketh thee
to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou
didst not receive? Now who made you to differ? This
is easy for me to answer this question. God the Father made
me to differ in eternal election when he sovereignly chose me
to be his. God the Son made the difference
in eternal redemption. When He lived for me, just what
you were singing about, what He did for me. He lived for me.
He kept the law for me. He died for me. He was raised
for me. He made a difference. He didn't
do this for everybody. He did this for His elect. He
did this for those the Father gave Him. He did this for those
who believed. The Lord made the difference. And I know this,
so I know the only reason that I'm a believer is because He
made me to be one. God the Holy Spirit made the
difference in eternal regeneration when He birthed me into the kingdom
and gave me life. God set me apart. Know this. He's even saying this to unbelievers.
Well, why do unbelievers need to hear this? Well, He said,
you know this, this is who He's speaking to. Know this, that the Lord
has set apart him that is godly for himself. Now believer, you
belong to the Lord. You are not your own. Isn't it great to belong to the
Lord? It's wonderful. You've been bought with a price.
Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which
are God's. Know this, that the Lord has
set apart him that is godly for himself. And because he set me
apart, look what he says in verse three, but know that the Lord
has set apart him that's godly for himself. The Lord will hear.
when I call unto Him." Now isn't that a blessed truth? The Lord
will hear. I'm calling, and you know what?
He hears. And this is true with regard
to every believer through the intercession of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Every time I call on the Lord, He hears me. That's
a blessed promise. He shall hear when I call. Now, David has been Speaking
to the Lord hear me when I call Oh God of my righteousness and
then he speaks to the natural man. Oh You sons of men, how
long will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love
vanity? How long will you seek after
lies and deceit? I want you to know this the Lord
has set apart him. That's godly for himself He's been speaking
to men and now he speaks to himself. I And what he says is so very
important. May God give us grace to enter
into this. He says in verse 4, and he's
speaking to himself, stand in awe. Literally tremble, shiver. Stand in all. Quiver. Stand in all at the greatness
of the Lord God. It has something to do with the
fear of God. Stand in all. Think of the greatness
of God. Take any one of His glorious
attributes and you think of the greatness of God. You think of
the fact, for instance, that He's omnipresent. You can't go
anywhere where He's not. He's there. David said, if I
make my bed in hell, thou art there. You can't go anywhere
where He's not. Stand in awe. What a glorious
being. Stand in awe at His holiness. He's altogether other. He's altogether
different. He's not like me and you. There's
nobody we can even compare Him with. Stand in awe. Stand in
awe at his sovereignty. He controls everything. He controls
everybody. He controls everything. He's
the first cause behind everything. He's got a will. He's got the
power to make sure his will comes to pass. His will does come to
pass all the time, completely. Now, is that a glorious being?
Think of his power. Whatever he wills, he has the
power to perform. Think of His justice. He is altogether
just. Shall not the judge of the earth
do right? Whatever he does is right. Stand
in awe. Stand in awe of His awesome power.
Stand in awe at His grace. Stand in awe that He would give
His Son for somebody like me or you. Stand in awe that Christ
came here, stand in awe that Christ died, stand in awe of
His resurrection, stand in awe. You know, this generation we
live in is a flippant and an irreverent generation. I can't
stand the way people talk, particularly religious people, the flippant
way they talk about God, the flippant way they talk about
the Scriptures and the Lord. It's just fear, tremble, shiver
even when you use His name. Thou shalt not take the name
of the Lord thy God in vain. Stand in awe and sin not." You
see, if you don't stand in awe, you're sinning. Isn't that so?
If you don't stand in awe of His glorious person, if you don't
tremble in His presence, in your heart, just His glory, His greatness,
if I don't stand in awe, I'm sinning. Stand in awe and sin
not. And let me say this about this
thing of sinning not. Make it your aim. Make it your
objective to never sin again from this time forward. That
is to be the goal of everybody here. John said, these things
I write unto you that you sin not. And when you do, thank God
we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. but stand in all, all at his
person and sin not. And then he says, commune in
verse four, stand in all and sin not. He says, commune with
your own heart upon your bed. Now, some people never do this.
They never examine themselves. They never look at themselves,
but a believer does. He looks at himself. You know,
you can't look at God. and have a spiritual view of
who he is through the Lord Jesus Christ without having some idea
of who you are. And you commune with your own
heart on your bed. You see, really, you see how
evil you are. You see how sinful you are. You
see your need of his grace. You see your need of his mercy.
You commune with your own heart on your bed. Examine yourselves
whether you'd be in the faith. Examine your calling and election,
make it sure. Commune with your own heart on
your bed. Some people are just so busy, just so busy. Now, wait
a minute. Commune with your own heart on your bed and be still. Be still and know that I am God. Here's something I fear we know
far too little about. Be still. Be still. Be still and know. Isn't it wonderful to just be
still and know that God reigns and that he's in control of everything
and everybody? Be still. You know, you can't
hear when you're speaking. It's impossible. I always think it's interesting
and I know I've done it. I know I've done it a lot. It's always
interesting when you're talking to somebody and they're looking
right through you, waiting for you to stop so they can start
talking again and they're not listening. Listen. That's what you do when
you're still. You listen. You listen to what
God says in his word. God is in the heaven and you're
on the earth. Therefore, let thy words be few. Be still my soul, the Lord is
on thy side. Now, if I stand in awe at the
greatness of God, I'll take a look at myself and I'll shut up. That's what'll happen. Be still. And then he says in verse five,
offer the sacrifices of righteousness and put your trust in the Lord. Now, is he saying offer up to
God the sacrifices of your good works and your righteousness?
Is there anybody in here that's crazy enough to think anything
you've done could be acceptable to God? When he's saying offer up the
sacrifice of righteousness, he's not talking about something you
or I have done. When I offer up the sacrifice of righteousness,
what am I offering up? the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord,
hear me for His sake. I come no other way. I come in
the name, the righteousness, and the merits of the Lord Jesus
Christ. We offer His righteousness. And
if I ever stand in awe, this is what I'll do. I'll offer the
sacrifice of righteousness. I'll come to God by Christ in
no other way. And He says, you offer the sacrifice
of righteousness, and that's what I'm doing right now. Remember,
He's the God of my righteousness. That's how I come. He's the author
of my righteousness. He is my righteousness. And I
offer the sacrifice of righteousness. And then He says, put your trust. Look what it says next. Put your
trust in the Lord. Put your confidence in the Lord. Don't trust princes. Don't trust
men. Put your confidence in the Lord. Now, in the Lord, this is, there's
not a more important phrase in the Bible, in the Lord. He hath
made us accepted in the beloved. in the Lord Jesus Christ. All
of God's love, all of God's grace, all of God's mercy, all of God's
acceptance is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Every blessing that God
has to give is in the Lord Jesus Christ and there aren't any blessings
that God has to give outside of Him. Put your trust, put your
confidence in the Lord. Paul put it this way in 2 Timothy
chapter 1 verse 12, I know whom I have believed, the Lord, and
I'm persuaded. I am convinced beyond the shadow
of a doubt, I'm sure of this, I'm persuaded, that He is able. Are you persuaded of that? He
is able. With no help from me, no contribution
from me, He is able to keep that which I've committed to Him.
And this is whatever believer does. They commit. the salvation
of their soul to Him. No works. Now, if you believe
in works in any way to any degree as being a part of your acceptance
before God, you've never committed, never have. They who commit are
those who entrust the entire salvation of their soul only
to Him. Trust, have confidence and rely
in the Lord. I'm persuaded He is able to keep
that which I've committed to Him against that day. Now David says in verse six, there be many that say, who shall
show us any good? Who's going to make us happy?
What can be done to make us feel good about this life we're living?
Who can show us any good? Many make that cry. And if you're
looking for good in this world, you're going to be like this
person. You're going to say, who will show us any good? You're
going to become cynical. You're going to become disillusioned.
This is a very cynical statement. Who will show us any good? Who
will show us any good? And I can see how you can become
cynical and disillusioned if you're looking for good in this
world. You know, the unbeliever, cannot possibly understand the
believer. There's no way. But a believer
can understand an unbeliever. I understand the way the natural
man thinks. I understand because I thought that way. I understand
exactly what the natural man's thinking. Somebody says, you
don't understand. Oh, yes, I do. Yes, I do. Now, I understand
their cynicism. I understand them saying, who
can show us any good? I understand those desires and
cries of the unbeliever. I've made them myself. You have
to. We understand where they're coming
from. They can't understand where we're coming from. They lack
the ability to do that, but we understand exactly where they're
coming from. But look what David says. He says, while they say,
who will show us any good? He says, Lord, lift thou up. The light of Thy countenance
upon us. Now what is the light of His
countenance? It's His face. It's His favor. I think there's
three things that this light of His countenance means. And
this is what every believer desires. I want to see His face. I want
him to know me and I want to know him. I want his, first of
all, his reconciled face. I don't want to, I don't want
to be like that group in the book of Revelation where they
say to hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne
and from the wrath of the lamb. I don't want to have anything
to do with that face. I want to have his reconciled face look
at me. Now his reconciled face means
that his reason for anger, is removed. There's no reason to
be mad at me. Boy, isn't that a glorious thing
to think the Lord not having a reason to be mad at you? Just
being pleased with you, pleased with everything about you. That's
his reconciled face. Lord, lift up your soul-cheering
light of your countenance. Reconciled and soul-cheering. John Newton put it best, how
tedious and tasteless the hours when Jesus no longer I see. Sweet prospects, sweet birds
and sweet flowers have all lost their sweetness to me. The midsummer
sun shines but dim. The fields strive in vain to
look gay. But when I am happy in him, December's
as pleasant as May. His name yields the richest perfume
and sweeter than music his voice. His presence disperses my gloom
and makes all within me rejoice. I would, were he always thus
nigh, have nothing to wish or to fear, no mortal as happy as
I. My summers would last all the
year. content with beholding his face. My all to his pleasure
resigned. No changes of season or place
would make any change in my mind. When blessed with a sense of
his love, a palace, a toy would appear. And prisons would palaces
prove if Jesus would dwell with me there. Now that is his soul-cheering
presence. O Lord, lift thou up the light
of thy countenance upon us. But there's something else about
the light of his countenance. It's transforming. Turn with
me for a moment to 2 Corinthians chapter 3. Second Corinthians chapter three. Verse 18. But we all this is every believer.
With an open face. Beholding as in a glass, the
glory of the Lord through the mirror of the word. We with an
open face behold as in a glass the glory of the Lord. And what
do we do as we behold with an open face the glory of the Lord
when we look at His light, the light of His countenance? It
says we're changed into the same image from glory to glory even
as by the Spirit of the Lord. Now here's what that means. You
can't look to Christ. and be unmerciful. You cannot
look to Christ and refuse to forgive somebody. You cannot
look to Christ and not be kind. You cannot look to Christ. You
look to Him, you'll be gracious, you'll be like Him. Now, when
you start trying to be like Him, it never works. You start trying
to be like Him, you just end up being the same way you always
are. Your flesh is what it is, but you look to Him. And this
is the key, faith. It's faith, looking to Him. You
look to Him, you'll be like Him. You fail to look to Him, you'll
be just like yourself. You look to Him, but if you see
this, the light of His countenance is a transforming view. Oh, the light of His, oh, would
to God that I always simply looked and never looked away. That's
the soul transforming view of His countenance. Now look at
verse 7, back to our tapes in Psalm 4. Now, Lord, lift thou up the light
of thy countenance upon us. And as he does, you know, we
can't see him unless he shows himself. Oh, but when he shows
himself, thou has put gladness in my heart more than in the
time their corn and their wine increased. You know, the world
only knows about gladness when their corn and their wine increases.
You look at how upset everybody is right now. Everybody's lost
so much money. And nobody likes losing money. I'm not saying
that's something to be indifferent about, but everybody's so upset.
Oh, things are so bad. Things are so bad. No, they're
not. I'm complete in Christ. I'm a
joiner with the Lord Jesus Christ. And my treasure is not here on
earth. It's in heaven, and it can't be taken away. It cannot
be taken away. That's my treasure. And thou
has put gladness in my heart. Oh, more than the time when,
Oh, everything's so good. My corn and wines increased.
I've got money in the bank. I've got, Oh, no, my gladness
is superior to that. That's what he's saying. Verse eight. Somebody called this the evening
Psalm and I can see why. David finishes with saying, I
will both lay me down in peace. What kind of peace? The peace
that Christ gives. Therefore, being justified. That's the peace he's talking
about. I get such peace from Him being my justification before
God, that means I'm not guilty. That means I don't have anything
to worry about. Sin is what brings the worry. If I don't have any sin, I got
nothing to worry about. I'm justified in God's sight.
I have no worries. Now, because I'm just, having
been justified, by faith we have peace with God. God's not mad at me. I'll both
lay me down in peace and I'll sleep. For thou, Lord, only makes
me dwell in safety. Now, I don't know how many times
I've tried to quote this psalm to myself when I couldn't sleep
and I didn't fall asleep. I wish I did, but I thought,
well, if you really believe that, it seems like you'd fall asleep.
Maybe so. But I know this, even when I can't sleep, I know He
only makes me to dwell in safety. Now, that's true in the feeling
of it. Isn't it wonderful to know He doesn't sleep. He neither
sleeps nor slumbers, and His eye is always on me. And I'm
protected. That's a wonderful feeling, but
the thing that's better than feeling of it is the fact of
it. I will both lay me down in peace and sleep for thou, Lord,
only. Make us me to dwell in safety
and in security under the blood of Jesus, safe in the shepherd's
fold. under the blood of Jesus, safe
while the ages roll, safe though the worlds may crumble, safe
though the stars grow dim, under the blood of Jesus, I am secure
in Him. Let's pray.